Malda is an important city of West Bengal situated on the banks of the river Mahananda. It was formerly known English Bazaar as an English factory was established here in 1771. Malda is a base for visiting the historical sites of Gaur and Pandua. Gaur was capital to three dynasties of ancient Bengal? The Buddhist Palas, the Hindu Senas and the Muslim Nawabs and has a glorious past. Pandua, once the alternate seat of power to Gaur, has the third largest concentration of Muslim monuments in Bengal. The Malda Museum has a great collection of the region’s architectural and anthropological specimens. It is the Divisional Headquarter of the Eastern Railway and almost all trains bound for North Bengal and North Eastern states of India halt at Malda station.
Gaur is 12 km south of Malda, right on the Indo-Bangladesh border. Explore
the historical relics of 14th and 15th century Bengal here. Particularly worth seeing are the Bara Sona Mosque, Dakhil Darwajah (built in 1425), Qadam Rasul Mosque, Lattan Mosque and the ruins of the extensive fortification. The Gomti Gate and Firoz Minar are two other monuments worth seeing, and are decorated with colourful enamelled tiles.
Pandua is 18 km north of Malda, located on the main highway. The impressive Muslim architecture to be seen here, includes the enormous Adina Mosque built in 1369 by Sikander Shah. It was one of the largest mosques in India, built over a Hindu temple, and has 378 small domes. Nearby is the Eklakhi mausoleum (built at a princely cost of one lakh rupees in those days), as well as several smaller mosques.
Malda is an important city of West Bengal situated on the banks of the river Mahananda. It was formerly known as ?English Bazaar? as an English factory was established here in 1771. Malda is a base for visiting the historical sites of Gaur and Pandua. Gaur was capital to three dynasties of ancient Bengal ? the Buddhist Palas, the Hindu Senas and the Muslim Nawabs and has a glorious past. Pandua, once the alternate seat of power to Gaur, has the third largest concentration of Muslim monuments in Bengal. The Malda Museum has a great collection of the region’s architectural and anthropological specimens. It is the Divisional Headquarter of the Eastern Railway and almost all trains bound for North Bengal and North Eastern states of India halt at Malda station. Malda is famous for mango orchards.
